Human
by ShirayukiTeikoku
Summary: Where this pairing came from, I have no idea - the pairing may be crack but this is actually a serious fic. By some miracle Meruem has survived but is still near death and is stumbled upon by Knuckle who has been dutifully tending the graves of he, the royal guards and Komugi. Meruem feels he has misunderstood the human race and wishes to correct his misjudgement
1. Chapter 1

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this but hope you enjoy anyway ^_^

Also apparently my dividers between sections are spelt wrong...? If there are any other errors please do let me know!

* * *

A formidable and dreadful enemy he had been, the Ant King Meruem had still been granted a final resting place. There he was buried side by side with Komugi and the other royal guards, who all lay in adjacent graves in which they were to find their eternal rest.

As enemies of the association, granting the ants graves had been something of a reluctant concession on the part of the hunters – some saw this as a dishonour to the previous chairman's name, he who had laid down his life to bring an end to the Ant King, but in the end it had been decided to lay the corpses to rest as an act of closure to a sad and terrible chapter in the history of mankind - however one hunter in particular had taken things a step further.

Knuckle had been extremely aggrieved by Netero's sacrifice but he also acknowledged the fact they had all been determined to give up their lives to win the battle and stop the ants from bringing a massacre of destruction and ruin to the rest of humanity. Netero had always fought with honour and Knuckle believed in honouring even dead enemies. Thus he was the sole figure to on occasion make the trip to the graves of Komugi and the Royal Guards with flowers, lighting the incense and even placing his hands together in a small prayer. Even if they were once his enemies, no good ever came of dishonouring the dead and in his heart Knuckle couldn't help harbour a small spark of admiration the loyalty the guards and the girl had shown the king.

As a result, it was Knuckle who upon one of his trips to the graves came across the open, empty grave of the king. Not a foot away from the freshly upturned earth sat the king himself, plastered with a layer of his own blood, peppered with a dusting of soil.

Knuckle froze in his tracks, dropping the flowers in his arms and leaping backwards. The king turned his gaze upon him but did not budge an inch.

_How could he not have noticed?! He should have felt an aura like the kings from miles away-_

And then it struck Knuckle – even at this distance he could hardly sense the king's aura. There he sat but mere meters away and yet only a faint whisper of his aura reached Knuckle. It was at this point Knuckle began to truly examine the form of the king.

He wasn't merely bloodied and dirty; the bluish tinge covering him was not just from the external coating of blood but the blood still inside his body. It was as if he were bruised from head to toe.

The tips if his fingers, toes and tail, as well as the skin below his eyes were particularly dark and his body was trembling with the sheer effort of struggling for breath. His breathes came in short sharp gasps wracking his entire body – were he completely uninjured he would still be in little position to make an attack while breathing alone required such a great deal of effort.

Slowly Knuckle began to steady his nerves. It had been such a shock to see the king alive beside his own empty grave that Knuckle had missed the obvious fact he was clearly still scarcely a breath away from death. Still he approached with caution; this had been the enemy that had forced Netero to use the rose.

"Oi, King of the Ants," Knuckled called out to him. The king had returned his gaze to the pristine grave in front of him but once again glanced in Knuckles direction.

His eyes were so blank Knuckled wondered if he could even see at all.

"Meruem," Was the king's short reply. This caught Knuckle of guard – looking at him, he hadn't thought the king even had breathe to speak.

"What-?"

"My name…is Meruem," He was definitely struggling but not enough to significantly impede on his imperious tone.

"These flowers…were they your doing?" He continued before Knuckle could say anything first.

"I…yea, that was me. The reason I came here today was to replace them with fresh ones," Knuckle slowly bent to retrieve the flowers he had dropped in haste of retreating from the resurrected king's proximity.

"I see…what is their significance?" This question also took Knuckle by surprise. Where was the king taking this?

"They show respect for the dead – that's probably not something you'd understand, though," Knuckle added bitterly.

"Why place them…on the graves of…your enemy?" the conversation was beginning to take its toll on the king.

"Again, you wouldn't understand but even enemies deserve respect. Even monsters like you," He was now less than a meter away and wasn't sure he desired to close the distance any further. It seemed the grave the king was looking at was that of Komugi – Knuckle had wondered about her, why had she been there to begin with? But he had more pressing questions on his mind.

"You must really be something, to have survived even the rose,"

"It is … as much a surprise to you… as it is to me. I too thought …that death was upon me,"

"But you survived,"

"Yes…but she did not," Knuckle turned from the grave to the king, eyes wide. Knuckle was not comfortable with this sudden turn of events – it had been enough when Youpi, out of all the guards, had actually acknowledged he and his comrades as warriors to make him unable to see Youpi as an enemy to be taken down but to see the king in this pitiful state mourning that girl, who weak and defenceless and _human_…weren't humans just prey to the ants?

Knuckle's dilemma had evolved into something even more confounding. He hadn't considered the possibility he could stand a chance at laying a hand on the king when he'd first spotted him out of his grave but now he didn't even want to – but at the same time he could hardly ignore the King of the Chimera Ants just sitting here feet from him.

As if to buy time to process things, Knuckle tentatively began separating up the slim bouquets of flowers in his arms, making ready to place them on the graves as he'd originally come there to do. When the king showed no adverse reaction, Knuckle went ahead and laid the flowers on the guards and Komugi's graves, lit the incense sticks in their little pots and bowed his head in a brief prayer for each.

He was now left standing by his enemies side with one remaining bouquet intended for grave of the very enemy sat at his feet. It was almost tempting to think on what to do with this final bouquet in order to avoid the much greater, more obvious issue at hand.

"So? You have done what…you came here to do," Knuckle looked at the flowers.

"Aren't you going to…return me to my grave?"

* * *

"Killua? What's the matter? It sounded like something's up," Gon looked at Killua curiously as Killua ended the call he had just received.

"Yea something's up…Knuckle just asked for some amazing favour…"

"Onii-chan, can I help? I want to help!" Alluka piped up brightly. Killua looked at her a little hesitantly.

"As it happens…"

* * *

"Huh?! He's alive?" Gon cried.

"Keep your voice down!" Killua hissed. They had finally reunited after all this time and something insane had to crop up.

"But why does Knuckle want to heal him? He's the enemy,"

"Don't ask me! Of the two of us I'd think you'd be closer to his wavelength of _idiocy_ than me. I just don't get it…"

"Hmm…so are you gonna help him then?" Gon hadn't shown as much of a reaction as Killua had anticipated. He guessed taking out Pitou must have gotten all of _that_ out of his system – a good thing too. Killua never wanted to see Gon like that ever again.

"To be honest, it's not entirely up to me," He glanced at Alluka who beamed back expectantly.

"So I can help?"

"Well, I guess it's Nanika I should be asking, really… do you think Nanika will mind healing someone for our friend?" Killua asked, trying to hint as heavily as he could that refusal was an option.

"Nanika doesn't mind at all! She's happy just to get to help Onii-chan,"

"Isn't that great, Killua?"

"It's not great at all Gon…that Knuckle, what the hell is he thinking?"

The young trio soon arrived at Knuckle's unadorned but modern looking apartment block. After being buzzed in, they made their way into the lift up to his apartment.

"Is this really safe? Isn't that poison supposed to be contagious or something?" Killua asked after they were let in by Knuckle.

"I've been exposed to it for sometime now and I've only just started feeling the effects myself, and even then it's really mild. Maybe it started wearing off over time or the soil absorbed it, I don't really know but it'll definitely be for the best we get rid of it as soon as possible,"

"Wait you've been poisoned?! You really are an idiot!"

"Are you okay?" Gon asked over the end of Killua's cry of indignation.

"Just a little bit of drowsiness, my skin's starting to discolour a little but it's not really started to kick in yet, but we should hurry all the same,"

"Nanika? Come out," Killua said reluctantly. Alluka's eyes and mouth instantly blackened.

"I need you to get rid of the poison in this room, and to heal the king and Knuckle – can you do that?" Killua asked a tad uncertain.

"Aye!"

"Right – Nanika, heal the king and Knuckle and get rid of all the poison!" Killua commanded.

"Hands!" At Nanika's exclamation Killua lead the form of his sister and Knuckle over to the bed the king was lying on. The bruising had worsened and he had fallen unconscious before he had reached the apartment but Knuckle had been carrying him to begin with since he hadn't had the strength to walk on his own.

Nanika took Knuckle and the king's hands and there was a brief flash of nen. As Killua caught Alluka as Nanika fell asleep, it was clear to him it had worked.

The king and Knuckle were both completely restored and as a result the king began to stir. Killua quickly whisked Alluka behind him as they all put as much distance between them and the king as the apartment would allow.

When the king sat up, however, he made no move to attack them.

"Where am I?" He seemed to address Knuckle directly.

"My apartment. I brought you here and asked Killua to get his sister to heal you," The king was at first silent.

"Why?" He asked simply.

"I've been wondering the same thing," Killua muttered flatly.

"Am I not your enemy? Did you leader not sacrifice his life in order that I should be stopped?"

Knuckle didn't respond but looked both guilty and a touch stubborn.

"Well…the thing is…just leaving you half dead by the graves seemed wrong," Knuckled stated with faltering surety. The rest of the room turned and stared at him.

"_That's_ the reason? You're joking right? That can't actually be the only reason you brought him here and had me get Nanika to heal him," Killua narrowed his eyes at Knuckle. Knuckle squirmed a little under his gaze.

"A man's gotta stick by what he feels is right," His pretence of bravado melted under Killua's gaze.

"You're even more of an idiot than him," Killua sighed issuing to Gon.

"You are the one who killed Pitou?" At the king's words the atmosphere in the room shifted. Even Killua made no attempt to hide his wariness. If there was anything that held the slightest possibility of bringing Gon back to how he'd been at the palace, it was this conversation. Killua had quite resolvedly steered clear of the topic but he'd known it would eventually have to be raised.

"I am. Pitou killed someone important to me," Gon replied, his tone was firm but did not contain animosity.

"So it was an act of revenge. What of Youpi and Pouf?"

"We're not sure, but seems like no one touched them – they just went and died on their own,"

"Perhaps they were exposed to the contagious poison emitted by me for too long. That was the case with Komugi," Killua's eyes narrowed. He had known there had been something about the girl. So the king had become attached to her?

"Now that you have healed me, what are your plans for me? Do you expect to keep me prisoner here?" The king gestured at the not nearly spotless apartment. Knuckle once again squirmed where he stood.

"Well? What are we going to do with him?" Killua asked. Gon and Alluka even turned their gazes to him.

"Er… for now he stays here, I'll keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't hurt anyone…" Killua sighed and placed his hand over his face.

"You didn't even plan this far ahead?" Knuckle continued to look uncomfortable.

"Killua has Alluka to look after but I'm free for now, I can help you keep watch over him," Gon volunteered.

"Just what do you think you'd be able to do against him? Even Netero was forced to blow him to hell and even _that _didn't kill him. We all had to wait for him to succumb to the poison and even after we buried him he's _still_ alive," Killua shot at Gon, jabbing his forehead brusquely.

"I won't have it! This was my decision, I've involved you two enough as it is! I'll take care of things myself," Knuckle announced. Killua looked at him scathingly.

"It's a bit late to be thinking about responsibility now. Man, if the Association ever finds out…" At this even Gon's grin faltered.

"We'll just have to make sure they don't find out – that means you and Nanika need to keep this a secret, right Alluka?"

"Sure!" Alluka replied enthusiastically, although Killua had the feeling she didn't quite understand every implication the situation entailed.

"So am I to understand that you do intend to keep me imprisoned here?" Killua was mildly impressed the king had obediently kept quiet and allowed them all to babble for so long.

"That's right, until further notice you're to live here. This is my place so you'll need to follow my rules, got that?"

_Uwa…real idiocy is impressive, frankly it's almost scary_ Killua thought.

"Me, Gon and Alluka still need to find a place for the night – and no we're not staying here, I'm not having Alluka around that monster any longer than necessary," Killua added when Knuckle opened his mouth valiantly.

"Will you be alright on your own?" Gon asked Knuckle.

"Like I already said, what help do you think you're going to be? Come on, he's not dead yet, he'll be fine – and if he's not he brought it on himself," Killua marched Alluka and Gon out of the door, the pair both waving their farewell.

Knuckle waved back before turning a little hesitantly towards the king. Killua was right, he wasn't dead yet –this fact was actually bothering him nearly as much as the fear of ending up that way.

The king just stared back at him as if he were about to do something mildly entertaining while Knuckle tried to think of way to steer the situation. Come to think of it, he'd given the king an order and he hadn't even blinked at him – actually a part of him wished the king would blink a little more often, he was unnerved enough as is.

"You've been going along with this quite obediently," Knuckle finally said, trying to maintain an air of confidence.

"I wish to atone,"

"... huh?"

"I have misjudged humans and their potential; I wish to make amends for this error,"

"When you say…amends…what do you mean…more specifically?"

"I shall observe your race from within your society. I shall garner more information and details about you humans and greater increase my understanding of your kind,"

"What are you going to do once you've …gathered enough information and …increased your understanding …sufficiently?" Knuckle tried.

"That will depend on the results of my observations. I have gravely misjudged your kind and as a result…valuable lives have been lost. I proceed with more caution than before and be more thorough in my investigation,"

Knuckle just stared at the king. His brain was struggling with this information – it didn't know what to make of it, how to process it, how to react to it…valuable lives? Since when had human lives been valuable to-

Knuckles eyes widened - the girl!

He was talking about some past errors in observing humans – that's why the girl had been there, she had held some sort of curiosity, something about her made the king change his view of humans from lowly cattle to _valuable lives_. He'd decided humans shouldn't be killed – there was reason to spare them, it had been just like when Youpi had decided to spare him and his comrades.

Knuckle's attention returned to the Ant King sat before him on his bed and suddenly thought – where is he going to sleep? They do sleep, right? Come to think of it, his knowledge about the Chimera ants aside from their combat weaknesses and strengths was rather lacking.

This was to be a learning experience for them both.


	2. Chapter 1,5

I know the description says this fic isn't intended to be crack...but some silliness just kind of happened, I'm sorry XD

As a result I'll make this a .5 chapter since it's really just the king being an alien ant who doesn't understand our weird world.

I hope this doesn't sound too unlike the Hunter x Hunter world...they have computers and helicopters so I just assume they have the usual emergency service vehicles...and food additives XD

* * *

Knuckle was woken by a thin beam of morning sunlight which had snuck through the gap in his curtains. Sitting up and stretching, he began to sidle over to the edge of the bed when he froze.

To his left, a pair of magenta eyes were observing him intently.

* * *

"What on earth is that boy doing now? I tell you, no regard for the time of the day," A lady in the neighbouring flat grumbled to her husband after a series of yells and thumps erupted from the room next door.

* * *

"Was I unconsciously leaking a threatening aura?" The king asked quite calmly from his chair to Knuckle's sprawled figure on the floor.

"N-no but – just – How long have you been sitting there staring at me?"

"How long?" The king glanced at the clock by Knuckles bedside.

"You humans put a considerable measure by the numbers of minutes and hours, do you not? I have been observing you from this position for 7 hours 43 minutes and 12 seconds,"

"You were staring at me the _whole time_ I was sleeping?!"

"It was a surprisingly interesting experience. I was under the impression when humans slept they just shut their eyes, slowed their breathing and didn't move but it seems I was wrong,"

Now Knuckle was really worried, what on earth could he have done in his sleep to keep the king amused for nearly 8 hours? He was quite overcome by the need to take a shower. Informing the king, he strode a little hurriedly into the bathroom.

As he let the water wash over him, Knuckle tried to set his thoughts straight. He had prepared himself for the life threatening aspect of healing the king but the rather alien aspect of the fact the king was a creature with intelligence equal to or even above a human level, spoke like a human, gestured like a human, walked upright like a human but was most definitely _not human_ was proving to be something he hadn't prepared adequately for.

Well, he had said he wanted to "observe" humans but Knuckle hadn't really thought this involved "observing" him all night while he slept. When he said "observe" Knuckle-

Knuckle almost fell flat on his back again.

"I've told you I mean only to observe you, taking your life would be counter-productive, would it not? You were bold enough to give me orders yesterday, yet today you've been acting like a cornered rodent,"

"Out! Get out of the bathroom, and shut the damn door behind you!"

"Why must I leave? I would like to observe this 'showering' you mentioned – I haven't observed human hygiene maintenance practices before,"

To Knuckle there had been a rather considerable amount of unfamiliar phraseology passing through his ears as of late and he was still struggling with how to hold a conversation when it took such a considerable amount of time to understand what the other participant had actually said.

"You watched me the _entire_ time I was sleeping and now you want to watch me shower?"

"That is correct – but why do you still sound uncertain? Are you still struggling to understand what I had meant by my wanting to observe humans?"

The king had a condescending tone during the most neutral of exchanges – his tone coupled with what he was actually saying was beginning to infuriate Knuckle – however he was at least level headed enough, and experienced enough, to understand punching the king in the face would reap considerably more disadvantages than advantages – a swift death which might reach beyond just himself was among the more convincing examples. The fact he probably would deal next to no damage wasn't as convincing but, irritatingly, still came to mind.

"Fine, _observe_ away," Knuckle turned his back on the king and tried to ignore his presence – however, with the king's restored aura, while he may not have allowed it free rein, it still wasn't easy to ignore, especially for one who had been on the opposing side to such an aura only recently.

* * *

"You are setting out on a trip to replenish provisions?"

"Yea, like I said, I'm going to get some food from the store down the road – do you want anything?" In truth Knuckle wasn't even sure if a Chimera Ant would gain anything from food palatable to humans but at the very least he wouldn't have to worry about an allergic reaction or it poisoning the king - if he'd survived the rose a piece of fish a couple of days passed its sell by date was hardly going to do any harm.

"I will join you,"

"No, no, no way! If anyone from the association sees you – if _anyone_ sees you there'll be an uproar!"

"If I wish to go out where I will be seen by humans I will need to make myself unrecognisable?"

"…you're green, you have a tail, an idiot could tell from a mile away that you're not human. Even if no one recognises you, you'll still attract way too much unwanted attention,"

"Then give me cloth to cover myself with,"

Knuckle felt like pointing out a cloak completely covering him wouldn't exactly be inconspicuous but held his tongue- it was better than the king just striding out as he was and being instantly recognised by someone from the association, then the pair of them would be in serious trouble – Knuckle they could execute on the spot if they sent someone strong enough but after he took down Netero, who would stand a chance against the king?

Knuckle would have spent longer considering this but he was too nervous about all the odd looks the cloaked ant was attracting. He only hoped no idiot would try and mug the king – then he would have to worry about trying to explain to the police what he had been doing so close to the poor splat on the pavement at the time of the incident and there's no way the police would just ignore a cloaked figure wandering around in the middle of the day dripping the victims blood all over the place.

The king certainly seemed interested in all the products neatly lining the shelves. He took particular interest in somewhat random items.

It was a bit tedious explaining what some of the flavours of soft drink meant – Knuckle wasn't even entirely sure what flavour most of the energy drinks were so he had told the king to just read the ingredients but when it became apparent neither of them understood what half the ingredients were, the king had nearly given Knuckle a heart attack by suddenly demanding some poor, short-sighted old lady - who couldn't even read the tiny font - explain what they were since she was clearly their senior and therefore must be more knowledgeable in the field of food additives and scientifically engineered sugars.

"So it is quite normal for humans to willingly consume products without knowing their contents?"

"We know there's nothing harmful in it and that's enough for most people,"

"But if you do not know what these ingredients are, how do you know they are not harmful?"

"There are regulations for that kind of thing, people inspect what factories put into food," But Knuckle's voice lacked conviction. He really didn't know a great deal about the food production industry nor the details of health regulations that it must abide by.

"Humans are very stupid and naïve," Knuckle hadn't bothered responding. He had wanted to counter that it was a stupid and naïve human's money he was wasting on food items he had picked out partly for the novelty of tasting what humans ate but primarily because their appearance provided some sort of entertainment but he decided the king probably wouldn't understand what he meant and it would be too much of a headache to explain.

He glanced at the king holding up a bottle of colourful fizzy drink to the light, shaking it then raising it to the light again to examine the change. Knuckle was thinking it was quite amusing to watch the king playing with things like a small child until, rather unfortunately like a small child he simply flung the bottle away when he lost interest in it.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Knuckle retrieved the bottle crossly. He was lucky the king didn't put too much power into his throw, even if it landed out of sight at least it had been down a straight road so Knuckle just had to follow it until he found the bottle.

"Why? What is wrong with what I did? There's no one around for it to hit, and besides, as weak and fragile as humans are, it would hardly cause much serious injury, "

"Chucking it away like that's littering, and wasting food,"

"What is littering?"

"Tossing rubbish on the street. See that? That's a bin, it's where rubbish is supposed to go,"

"We've passed numerous bins, why aren't you putting the bottle in any of them?"

"Like I said, there's no need to waste food,"

"I highly doubt there is much nourishment to be found in that cocktail of chemicals,"

Knuckle couldn't exactly argue, he was very reluctant to drink it himself but he had said it would a waste to just throw it away and he needed to set an example to the king that he would hopefully follow in order not to attract to much unwanted attention. It really was like looking after a child – but at the same time a child who could kill him without a moment's notice and who would nigh unstoppable were he to go on a rampage – not to mention were he to be caught in his company Knuckle would be in serious trouble.

Knuckle once again turned in the king's direction. He was now sampling some sweets. The look on his face suggested he did not approve of the taste but he at least did not throw them down the end of to the road again. When they passed a bin he could see the king looking from the bin to the packet of sweets and couldn't help grin when the king seemed to heed his words and decided against disposing of it. At least he was a fast learner.

Knuckle couldn't help reluctantly admit to himself this was probably one of the reason he was such a formidable opponent. He tried not to dwell on the battle that must have been fought between the chairman and the king but it was difficult to keep his mind away from the idea.

The ringing siren of a passing fire truck pelting past the pair brought Knuckle from his thoughts when the king decided to catch hold of a pole attached to the side of it, almost flipping the engine in the process.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"The noise this vehicle is making is irritating – don't worry I'm just going to ask them to turn it off,"

"It's a firetruck - the siren is a signal for other vehicles to get out the way - you can't tell them to turn it off!" knuckled hurried over as a group of startled fire men dashed out of the vehicle backing away from the cloaked king.

"So the noise is necessary? Very well, I will permit it," This statement didn't ease the firemen's confusion but after Knuckle hurriedly apologised they were on their way, if just as confused and rather angry.

"Listen, all emergency service vehicles use sirens, okay? If you just grab a passing ambulance people could die – they transport people who are already injured so tipping the ambulance like you did that firetruck could kill the people they're trying to save – got it?"

"I see,"

This really was going to be considerably harder than Knuckle had first thought, and in ways he hadn't even considered.


End file.
